


Lost In You

by scottxlogan



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men (Original Timeline Movies)
Genre: Adult Language, Awkward Romance, Drama & Romance, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Movie Night, Night Terrors, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:15:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23256049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scottxlogan/pseuds/scottxlogan
Summary: On a stormy night at the school Logan is haunted by the life he left behind. Unable to sleep, Logan finds his way to Scott and ends up learning more about the world that he entered into when he changed the past.
Relationships: Logan (X-Men)/Scott Summers
Comments: 21
Kudos: 124
Collections: Scogan Displacement Challenge, Scogan One Line Prompt Challenge





	Lost In You

The warmth of the blankets should have been provided a safety net from the outside world, but to Logan it only served to drive him further into madness. The roaring thunder beyond the estate walls served to awaken a part of Logan that he’d fought to repress since his return to the school. Now with the rain pounding on the thick pane of glass in Logan’s bedroom, he found himself gasping for air. The winds howled and screeched only serving to heighten Logan’s fear. He squeezed his eyes shut again, hoping to expel the negative thoughts running through his head, but it was no use. With each tapping sound on the window, the rhythm it created only served to magnify the suffocating, heavy feeling building in Logan’s chest. For the last twenty minutes the storm raged out of control evolving past the simple rain that the weatherman had predicted. Instead of a light drizzle the rain was all consuming and violent, beating against the glass in cadence to its own long and torturous dark rhythm. With each popping sound of rain on the window, Logan flinched and found himself thinking about gloomier times. He pinched his eyelids closed tightly struggling to banish the sound and to remember the breathing techniques that Hank had suggested for him, but it was no use. The storm’s fury was pushing on keeping him from a good night’s sleep as memories of another life carried over him.

“No!” he could hear himself screaming on the inside as the weight of water pushed in upon his chest slowly crushing him to near death. In an instant he was back in that dark place, with his lungs filling up drowning in the frigid liquid pouring into him with each desperate breath he took. With each tap of the rain beating against the glass of his bedroom window, he found himself slipping out of reality and returning to a place he wished his brain would never take him to again. Instead of surrounding himself in a blanket of warmth and beautiful dreams of a new future, he found it damn near impossible to sleep. He’d escaped the past, but the madness would be forever embedded in his brain always waiting in the wings to steal his happiness away from him all over again.

With a grunt Logan shifted on the bed breaking into a cold sweat when his fears mounted. He could envision the crushing waters over him, flooding inside of his lungs and the burning sensation that had caused him to shudder and shake under the pressure of the water. He could taste the salt in the back of his throat, could still feel the sting of his eyes struggling to see, but he knew that he wasn’t there. In the back of his mind he knew that he was safe in the school, but he couldn’t shake the weight of his terror. The unwanted memories had his head throbbing and his body charged with the feeling of fight or flight as he sat upright on the center of his bed. Surrounded by damp sheets and a thick woolen blanket he sucked in a sharp series of breaths in the hopes of getting the oxygen into his lungs, but it was no use. He started to hyperventilate going into a series of tiny shudders when the weight of where he had once been rocked him to the core.

“No,” he repeated falling back onto the bed and curling up into a fetal position on the center of the bed. Closing his eyes tightly, he fought to shut it out. If only he could make the memories disappear, then he could make it through the night. If only he could make it stop…

“Please,” he bellowed speaking to a god he wasn’t convinced he’d believed in. Despite the changes in his life, there was something still pulling him back to the world he’d left behind. With invisible fingers, it reached for him through the darkness, tugging and gripping at his lungs, squeezing and filling with a burning warmth that he knew he would never truly escape.

With each flash of the past hanging over him, Logan coughed and gasped feeling as if he was still trapped in that moment weighed down by Magneto’s betrayal. He’d been imprisoned beneath the water subjected to his own personal hell and the longer he found his mind returning to that moment, the more he realized it was no use in trying to sleep. Instead he pushed the covers back and kicked his feet over the side of the bed when the constant tapping sound on the glass caused his head to throb. He looked over to the window seeing the flash of light accompanying the thunder as he reached out across the side of the bed with shaky fingers. He attempted to think peaceful thoughts—to even out his breathing as his heart raced. His throat was dry reminding him of how raw it had once been from the saltwater that had consumed him. In and out the air came and went from his lungs, but the memory remained leaving him to struggle on his own in a world he hadn’t anticipated waking up in.

Hoping to reach for something to calm his nerves, Logan thought to the bottle of pills that Hank had prescribed him. At first the idea of using them had been preposterous, but the more he’d been plagued by the life he left behind, the more Logan found himself wanting to reach for them. At the time he’d joked that nothing short of a tranquilizer would knock him out, but Hank had insisted, and he’d grudgingly accepted the bottle making a note to keep them tucked away for a bad night. The problem was that every night was becoming a bad one—taking Logan from relief to despair at the way his life was no longer his own. The harder the nights like these were for him the easier it was to take the pills as a means of escape. Except like all the other nights he’d been in the same situation, tonight he knew that there would be no reprieve. He’d finished off the last of the pills four nights ago, but he’d been too stubborn to ask Hank for a refill. Perhaps it was his pride or maybe it was because he’d been too caught up in a few nights of reasonably peaceful sleep to anticipate what would happen the next time a storm rolled around. Now he was going to pay for it in the worst possible way.

“Shit,” Logan grumbled twisting on the bed. Discarding his initial thought to reach for the pills, he opted for grabbing the beer can on top of the nightstand. He hoped that a beer would dull his mind enough to get him through another long, lonely night at the mansion buried inside of dreams of demons he could never escape. However, he’d discovered that he’d already finished off his last beer leaving him without his usual remedy for self-medicating long enough to push through the darkness that chased over his subconscious.

“Damn it,” Logan had cursed tossing the empty can aside and sending it towards the window with a resounding thud. Much to his dismay, his impulsive decision started a chain reaction causing him to knock over the pyramid of empty beer cans he’d put together the night before when he’d found himself caught up in the height of boredom. Now they spilled out across the bedroom making much more noise than he’d intended in his frustration.

“Great,” Logan groaned outwardly realizing that the night just kept getting worse and worse. Looking to the clock on the nightstand beside him, Logan discovered it was far too late for him to be causing such a scene, but given that most of the staff and students at the school were away on an out of town field trip, he was hoping that he hadn’t disturbed anyone in his nocturnal torment.

“Good thing too because you’re a total basket case,” Logan spit out to himself. He brought his hands up over his head hoping to quell the ache building up in his temple as images of fire and destruction played out in the back of his mind sending him to a time and place that no longer existed.

_It should have been easier than this_ , Logan thought to himself knowing that the dreams were only intensifying. Chuck had promised him that in time that life would be nothing more than a faint teasing glimpse of a bad dream—no longer serving to haunt him in the waking hours now that he’d changed the past and created a new world with new opportunities and second chances for those he loved. Everything was better now. He had to keep reminding himself that. The world that he’d grown to be a part of that was filled with so much misery and destruction was no longer a reality. Instead it was merely a tattered fragment of another life trapped inside of a broken man’s subconscious left to torment and torture what was left of his fractured mind now that he’d been surrounded by an altogether different, hopeful future.

Reaching for the top drawer of the nightstand Logan pulled on the handle hoping to find a cigar to pass the time, but much like the situation with the beer he came up empty. That stash had depleted as well as Logan strongly suspected that Scott had played a hand in that.

“Scott,” Logan mouthed to himself knowing that he had no proof of Scott’s involvement in his missing cigars, but given Scott’s aloof attitude and general irritated disposition, he was certain that Scott had played a hand in their disappearance. Granted Scott had mostly avoided Logan since his arrival at the school, but there was something about the smugness that carried over him that left Logan thinking the worst about Scott’s penchant for driving him crazy.

_He wasn’t in here_ , a voice in the back of Logan’s mind reminded him. The reality of that thought left him both frustrated and disappointed in knowing that Slim hadn’t given him much more than a second glance since his arrival. Since that fateful morning in Chuck’s office he and Scott really hadn’t crossed paths with one another due to what Logan had suspected was Scott’s way of ignoring Logan for some unknown sin that the other version of him had committed against him in the process right before Logan’s arrival in this lifetime. Sure, Logan had thought about sorting it out, but as time went on, he just gave up on second guessing himself and let Scott have his space.

_And what good has it done for you?_ the voice questioned again as Logan found himself even more frustrated than he’d been seconds earlier. Instead of resting and focusing on the morning ahead of him, he was sitting on the center of a bed with his head buried in his hands fighting like hell to quell the panic attack building in his chest while simultaneously overthinking the situation that wasn’t really happening with Scott Summers. He took in a short breath—one followed by another remembering the way that Scott had snubbed him that morning outside of Chuck’s office. It stung in ways he didn’t want to mention, but with each passing day it gnawed at him becoming a source of upset that would’ve consumed him if it hadn’t been for the damned nightmares.

Now overwhelmed with memories of the life he left behind, Logan was acutely aware of the sound of the rain tapping on the glass taking him back to that place in the ocean where he was trapped underneath the body of water feeling it fill his lungs after Magneto had sent him to that living nightmare. It was years ago in this lifetime, but to him it felt as if it was yesterday. He could still recall the weight of the water edging him towards agonizing death and taunting him with a reprieve that would never come. His healing factor had saved his life, but in his time down below the water’s surface, he’d been subjected to pain and agony. Over and over he was left to suffer with the reality that his body would simulate drowning. Repeatedly it would bring him to the brink of death barely holding on for three days until the fishermen that had pulled him from the water had taken him to a place that had presented him with a solution that felt far worse than death.

Gasping for air, Logan could still feel the weight of Stryker’s presence in his life taking him from bad to worse when in the blink of an eye he had found himself back at the mansion in a whole new world surrounded by those he’d loved and missed. It should have been the ultimate reprieve, but as the two worlds in his mind collided guiding him to a place between heaven and hell, Logan found that he couldn’t move forward. He didn’t quite fit into this new life as everyone else had years together—memories of a time and place where Logan had only sat on the sidelines wishing for in his time in the past. His mind was filled with pain and suffering, with death and loss in knowing that those he’d cared about were taken from him. He was brought to the brink of madness having lost it all only to have it given back to him when he stood upon death’s door.

“And now look at you,” he grumbled raising his chin up when thunder rumbled outside in the gardens once again, “You’re sitting here feeling sorry for yourself—hating that you can’t avoid returning to a world that you no longer are a part of. You should be happy here, but you aren’t. You’re miserable caught up in the past and losing sight of what matters when…”

Logan stopped himself when lightning filled his bedroom with a bright, white flash. The crashing sound of thunder pulled him out of the past and back to the moment as he attempted to pull himself together. Frowning he slammed the nightstand drawer shut again and stood upright ready to put his pity party behind him, “You’re losing your mind. Hell, now you’ve taken to talking to yourself.”

_Which is only going to make it worse, he_ thought as he looked to his bedroom door wondering if he could find a way to pass the time until the storm passed.

“I heard a rumor that Bobby stashed some booze in the Danger Room last week,” Logan could recall hearing one of the others speaking in whispers a few days earlier. Granted at this point Bobby had no reason to hide anything given he was no longer a student, but perhaps a trip to the Danger Room regardless of if there was any truth to the rumor would be exactly what Logan needed to put his head into perspective. A good workout could perhaps get his mind in other places away from the man he once was. He could use his time in the Danger Room to start choreographing a rigorous training program that would help push him past his limits on a physical level. Maybe then he would forget where he was in this new world lost and an outsider looking in. If he worked hard enough then he could push himself to the point where he could ignore just how lost he’d felt in being there in a world that welcomed him without the knowledge of where he’d truly been before his arrival.

Making his way out of his bedroom and into the hallway, Logan contemplated the program he would work through wondering if he could find something to push him past the point of exhaustion in the Danger Room. Thoughts of what simulation he would select consumed him when he moved down the staircase armed with the thought of what kind of torture he would endure to work through his demons. Lost in contemplation he descended through the empty school when he noticed a faint light coming from down the hallway. He stopped midmovement contemplating his direction when as he realized that someone else was awake. For a moment he hesitated not quite sure he wanted to share his sleepless night with anyone else when a familiar, welcoming scent carried over him. It reached deep into his senses causing his heart to race again, but for entirely different reasons than it had back in his room. Now with the sweet scent of aftershave and the crisp, clean soap smell that was distinctly Scott Summers surrounding him, he found that he’d entered even more hazardous territory.

“Go to the Danger Room,” he mouthed to himself as if the words alone would distract him from temptation that was well within his reach. He stood frozen allowing the scent of Scott to intoxicate his senses bringing with him a warmth and familiarity that Logan had yet to experience in this lifetime. Instead he and Scott were strangers in this world, kept apart by distances Logan couldn’t quite explain after his one confusing encounter with Scott.

“What is he doing here?” Logan questioned realizing that Scott should be away from the school with the others. He’d been one of the first chaperone volunteers for the trip, so the idea of him being home and away from the others sparked quite a few questions inside of Logan. Unable to quell his curiosity, Logan realized that despite the impossibility Scott being home due to his obligations, his scent was something that called to Logan like a siren song drawing him in at the worst possible time. 

Shifting gears on his thought process Logan abandoned the idea of training in favor of seeking out the one man he couldn’t help but focus on in his return. Armed with a new determination, he moved through the darkened hallway not quite sure what he would do or say when he made his way to his new destination. However, with the smell sweeping over him, he found himself met by a newfound hunger that was too irresistible to ignore. Taking in a breath he hesitated in the hallway listening for a second, waiting to see if anyone else was inside of the kitchen when he finally found the courage to check things out. Drawing in a breath, he found a moment of reprieve as he stood in the doorway to the kitchen looking over to the island countertop where Scott was perched beside it with a paperback novel in hand and a six pack of beer centered on the counter before him.

“Slim?” Logan questioned blinking a few times as he wondered if his eyes were playing tricks on him. He took a small, tentative step towards Scott not quite sure what to say when he rethought the movement. Instead he took a step back keeping a distinct distance between them. Nervously he leaned into the doorway observing Scott seated before him draped in a blue and white robe with navy colored slippers on. His hair was damp and neatly combed back indicating that perhaps he’d just stepped out of a shower himself as his nose was buried in the novel he was holding. His jaw was set with tension and his posture indicated that he was less than comfortable perched upon a stool perusing through the pages of the novel in his hand. It was then that Logan realized that it was still very dark in the kitchen despite Scott’s presence in the room. The tiny light over the oven was the only light in the room providing a soft yellow glow that Logan was convinced was far from reaching Scott’s eyes onto the page before him. Still as Scott continued to scan the page before him, it seemed that the lack of light hadn’t bothered him in his reading mission.

“You know I’ve never understood how you can do that,” Logan finally broke his silence as he watched Scott turn the page of the novel he was reading, “It’s dark in here. How can you even read that?””

“It’s not that dark,” Scott shrugged not bothering to look up from the novel. A few seconds later he turned another page seemingly caught up in reading the story when his lips curved upward in the first hints of a teasing smirk, “Plus you aren’t the only one with heightened senses you know.”

“I didn’t realize that your mutant power was reading in the dark,” Logan teased with a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

“It isn’t,” Scott remarked raising his chin up to issue Logan a brief annoyed glance before he buried his nose in the book again, “but then again it isn’t that dark in here.”

“It’s plenty dark in here, but who am I to judge?” Logan shrugged seeing Scott caught up in the moment with the book in hand.

“There’s nothing to judge,” Scott’s voice sounded strained—as if he too was caught up in something that neither man could quite understand. Instead of pushing the issue, Logan took in a slow, calming breath and took a different approach with Scott.

“What are you reading?” Logan questioned still waiting in the doorway to the kitchen. Not quite sure on how he should behave around the man who’d snubbed him since his arrival, Logan folded his arms in front of his bare chest keeping his mind focused on the situation. He watched the man before him taking note of the beauty that carried over him. Although Scott would never appreciate hearing it, Logan was aware of how much Scott prided himself on being in control of every aspect of his life. Poised and perfect Scott was the ultimate specimen of masculinity before him with long, slender fingers and a jawline that one could get lost in for hours. His perfectly sculpted cheekbones made him an Adonis perfect in every way imaginable, but his face revealed nothing about his thoughts surrounding him in an air of stoic mystery and sexiness that Logan would be a fool to ignore. Scott was distanced, but beautiful in all the right ways to make any man melt in simply being able to sit back watching him from a distance.

“Nothing important,” Scott closed the novel and set it down on top of the kitchen counter, “It’s not anything that you’d be interested in.”

“Try me,” Logan suggested with an air of flirting in his tone. His words caused Scott to sit up straighter, brushing his fingers over the cover of the book before swallowing down a gulp of air. He seemed flustered, but just as soon as it happened he quickly recovered instead giving off the same neutral vibe that he often carried with him. He was far from being casual and carefree, but Logan had soon realized that in this world, this version of Scott was calm—more reserved in ways that Logan was still trying to figure out in studying him from afar.

“I don’t really think it would be of interest to you,” Scott shook his head dismissively, “It’s not really something that…”

“Indulge me,” Logan prompted him further. He watched Scott’s mouth open revealing a teasing hint of the pink tongue inside of his mouth, but instead of speaking Scott simply tipped his head to the side to give Logan another contemplative look. It was then that the weight of their distance hit Logan.

After almost six weeks in this new world, Logan still hadn’t adjusted fully to the subtle changes that had taken place around him. They were all familiar, but distinctly different foreign to the things that he’d learned about the people he’d once loved and lost in the world he’d put behind him. Scott was no exception to that rule as this version of Scott hadn’t been as angry with Logan as he’d been in the last. He simply seemed lost and unsure how to respond to Logan’s presence in the room. Granted they hadn’t spoken more than few words here and there since that moment outside of Chuck’s office, but Logan knew that Scott had been watching him from afar. Although their paths seldom crossed, Logan could feel the weight of Scott staring behind the ruby quartz glasses seemingly sizing him up—as if Logan was a piece of the puzzle that didn’t quite fit with the others. It had been gut wrenching to be so close, yet so far away from Scott in their time together. It had been something that weighed upon Logan’s mind more than he cared to admit openly, but from Logan’s observation Scott appeared to be equally conflicted caught up in a series of hidden thoughts that kept him far from Logan in this world. Initially Logan had considered the distance had spun from Logan’s having reached out to Jean when he’d first arrived to this new home, but upon learning that Jean had moved on with a new lover that wasn’t Scott, Logan couldn’t help, but realize that hadn’t caused the tension between them. It was something that ran deeper, but went without explanation as Logan tried to navigate his way through this new world. The longer it continued the more Logan began to wonder just what was guiding Scott’s aloof actions towards him.

“Like I said it’s nothing important,” Scott decided preparing to say something more about the book he’d just discarded when another thought seemed to overtake him. He resigned himself to the moment before placing his hand on top of the novel’s tattered cover again, “I think it’s one of Marie’s romance novels.”

“A romance novel?” Logan couldn’t help but arch a curious brow at Scott’s selection of reading material. He watched the way that Scott’s fingers touched the top of the cover, sliding gently over the frayed edges of the book and he found he couldn’t look away. With each tiny movement Scott’s finger made over the broken binding of the book, Logan found himself imagining what else Scott could do with that skilled caress. That thought sent his mind to places he was damn certain he didn’t want to go with an agitated looking Summers before him. Clearing his throat, he shifted his hips and tried to play off his arrival in the kitchen as nothing out of the ordinary, “I didn’t take you for a romance novel kind of guy.”

“I’m not,” Scott answered stiffly as he kept his face forward focusing on the book. He released the cover opting instead to position his hands on the edge of the counter keeping his distance from the novel. Clearing his throat, he looked away from Logan as his words came out in a tight, rumble of a whisper, “that’s more your kind of thing.”

“Romance novels?” Logan couldn’t help, but laugh lightly at the thought, “Nah, I don’t think so. I know it’s late, but I’m fairly certain that isn’t me.”

“Maybe not anymore, but you used to love picking them up from the supermarket. It got to the point that we stopped letting you go shopping for fear of what else you would bring home with you for your own personal library of lustful stories,” Scott’s voice hinted at a moment of sadness. He lowered his head ever so slightly drawing in a breath when a small laugh teased upon his lips, “The trashier the better you always said.”

“Right,” Logan laughed in mocking disbelief when Scott’s smile faded, “Now I know you’re messing with me. Next you’ll be saying that I love chick flicks as well.”

“You cried like a baby the first time you saw The Notebook,” Scott raised his chin up and tilted his face so that he was looking directly at Logan behind his ruby colored lenses, “You said it touched you in ways that you didn’t realize you were capable of feeling.”

“That’s because it always kills me to see the woman in a film choose the wrong guy,” Logan blurted out without a second thought. The words fell freely from his lips as he pushed his feet forward moving in closer to the kitchen island where Scott was, “Why on earth would she turn away someone like Lon when he had so much to offer? He was a good guy with a lot of heart and plenty of love to give.”

“Because often people are tempted by the bad boy. There’s a certain sense of attraction one feels to the man that is unobtainable. Maybe it stems from the fact that someone feels that they can conquer the man’s spirit and domesticate him somehow when all the signs point towards him wanting to cling to his freedom. The good guy, on the other hand, is stable, but boring leading someone to believe that they are going to be met with a life of the mundane,” Scott answered with a slight tonal shift, causing Logan to give him a second glance.

“A life with the good guy isn’t mundane,” Logan softened his tone when he noted the wounded expression on Scott’s face.

“Tell that to the bad boy who ends up in a more enticing position to the lead,” Scott swallowed down a breath. He tipped his chin down and touched the top of the counter once again, “The good guy always loses out in the end.”

“Not always,” Logan offered up unable to ignore the sadness in Scott’s voice. He cleared his throat and took a tentative step forward to bridge the distance between them, “Sometimes the good guy is exactly what someone needs in their life. They bring stability and support and…”

“Anything, but the wild times that the lead is looking for,” Scott let out an ironic laugh.

“I don’t know about that,” Logan mused with a hint of laughter in his voice, “I’ve met plenty of good guys who know full well how to be a bad boy in the bedroom.”

“Is that right?” Scott’s tone immediately soured. His posture stiffened further when his eyes darted over towards Logan from behind his glasses. Logan didn’t need to see his eyes to realize the distain Scott had felt for that statement.

“Sure,” Logan shrugged, “In sex it doesn’t matter if you’re a good or bad guy. All that is important is feeling good and having fun with it.”

“I suppose,” Scott fell to silence again. This time Logan found it better to say nothing as he crossed the threshold to enter Scott’s proximity. He watched in silence as Scott reached for the novel again. He slid it across the countertop, pushing it towards Logan as he let out a long sigh, “This one really isn’t my thing though.”

“Why not?” Logan questioned circling around the kitchen island to stand across from where Scott was seated.

“It’s a tragic romance,” Scott looked up at Logan again with that same poker face he often carried with him in their encounters, “Truth be told I’ve never been into literary tragedies. Life is miserable enough without forms of entertainment providing that same kind of let down.”  


“I don’t know,” Logan reached out to grab one of the stools next to where he was standing. He pulled it across the kitchen floor making a screeching sound in its movement that ultimately caused Scott to cringe, “There’s something to be said about a good tearjerker. A tragic film or novel could serve as a reality check to remind you just how much life matters.”

“Life could have the same effect,” Scott added pointedly.

“It could, but there’s something about escapism that can give you a break from your own reality,” Logan explained taking a seat on the stool. He watched Scott closely before continuing, “To read about others who are in situations that you can relate to no matter how heart wrenching they can be could undoubtedly change your perspective on life and love.”

“I think I’d rather pass. Right about now the last thing I need is a romance novel attempting to influence my perspective on life,” Scott wrinkled his nose dismissively, “Besides, I’ve already read this one before and I hate it.”

“You hate it?” Logan teased, “That’s a strong word Scott.”

“Read it yourself and you’ll understand,” Scott groaned outwardly.

“Why is that?” Logan questioned reaching for the book and pulling it up from the countertop. He looked at the name on the cover, inspecting the image before him closely before Scott spoke up once again.

“Because despite all the bells and whistles about what a great romance it is the two lovers don’t end up together,” Scott’s voice shook for a moment revealing something about his mindset before he sat up straighter on his seat, “They have all the makings of a classic love story, but life gets in the way and then it is all bullshit.”

“Let me guess,” Logan set down the novel and pushed it to the center of the countertop, “one of them dies.”

“Worse,” Scott explained drawing in an uneasy breath, “They have incredible chemistry from the beginning. Sure, there’s tension when they first met, but slowly they break down the barriers between them until they are left with their most primitive selves revealing the truth to one another about who they are and what they want out of life.”

“Then what is it exactly that’s bullshit? Their shared intimacy is unnerving to you?” Logan questioned unable to quell his curiosity in Scott’s response.

“It’s the perpetual lie that surrounds their love that really sets this one as a disaster in the making,” Scott explained with an outward groan, “After everything they went through to be together, it all just fades away when one of them walks away and leaves the other behind without a second thought. He goes on and has a whole other life with a wife and children becoming the epitome of everything he swore he never wanted to be. He lives this whole other life turning away from love when he decides to discard who he is with someone new never really giving any thought to the love that made him whole in the first place.”

“It sounds awful,” Logan shuddered with a smirk.

“It is,” Scott agreed giving Logan another curious glance, “You’re mocking me now, aren’t you?”

“No,” Logan shook his head, “I’m not actually. It sounds like a horrible way to tell a story.”

“Whether it is or it isn’t like I said it’s not my cup of tea,” Scott decided keeping his focus on Logan, “I’d much rather spend my time reading other things.”

“Such as?”

“I don’t know,” Scott shrugged, “Something far less ridiculous in its nature like an instruction manual or a textbook and...”

“You’re the life of the party aren’t you now, Slim?” Logan joked lightly, “I can see why you are a favorite with the kids around here.”

“Screw you,” Scott mouthed sourly.

“Such naughty words,” Logan feigned shock. He brought his hand up over his chest to further instigate Scott with his presence, “What would the others think of you and that dirty mouth of yours?”

“Go fuck yourself Logan,” Scott spat back at him with clear annunciation. It seemed that they were fighting words, but Logan could sense that another emotion was guiding Scott’s thoughts in the moment. He bit down on his lower lip seemingly holding back as Logan chuckled watching Scott’s face grow a pale shade of crimson.

“How about I fuck you instead?” Logan wiggled a suggestive brow in Scott’s direction, “What do you say to that?”

“I’m the good guy,” Scott mouthed not missing a beat, “I wouldn’t be nearly enough to satiate a wild man like yourself.”

“Don’t underestimate yourself Slim,” Logan cast a ravenous glance over the lines of Scott’s body, “With a body like yours I’m sure you’d be plenty of fun in the sack.”

“You couldn’t handle it,” Scott placed his hands down on the countertop. He leaned forward puffing his chest out as he pursed his lips defiantly, “I’d be too good for someone like you and we both know that. You would be bored sooner or later by the idea of someone like me.”

“Or maybe you’re too afraid to admit that a bad boy is exactly what you crave,” Logan challenged leaning in over the countertop to call Scott’s bluff, “Maybe your real fear in all of this is that you would end up like all of those leads in the romance films falling head over heels for the guy you kept telling yourself was completely wrong for you.”

“You just see a challenge being issued and a conquest to be taken when you look at me,” Scott threw back at him with an air of distain in his tone, “You don’t give a damn about what happens after we screw each other. You just want to say you did it so that you can purge the fixation from your system. Admit it. I’m just here and that’s what makes me desirable in the moment.”

“It’s more than that, but you’re too afraid to admit it,” Logan replied seeing the way that Scott was suddenly flustered by their conversation, “What about the bad boy scares you so much?”

“Perhaps it’s the idea of knowing that once he’s had his fill, he’s going to be on his way out the door pretending that what we had didn’t matter,” Scott’s jaw flexed with tension. He opened his mouth again following the same pattern of the night before opting instead to switch gears on their conversation, “It’s one hell of a storm tonight.”

“I won’t argue that,” Logan agreed thinking about the nightmares that had consumed him back in his room. Returning to silence Logan tried to process the conversation between them thinking about a way to bring up all the thoughts that had carried over him, but instead he just sat there feeling like an idiot unable to communicate with someone, who in the other world he’d come from, had been so very important to him, “Scott?”

“What?” Scott questioned in a gruff, abrasive tone.

“Look I…” Logan found himself at a loss when he reached out across the top of the counter. He contemplated reaching out to take Scott’s hand in his in order to offer up some words of comfort but stopped short opting instead to withdraw his hand back into his lap no longer giving physical contact between them as an option.

“What?” Scott questioned impatiently.

“It’s just…”

“Just what?”

“I…just…” Logan struggled with his words, “Tonight my head just isn’t in the right place and…”

“No one is asking anything out of you Logan,” Scott scoffed, “least of all me.”

“I didn’t say that you were. It’s just…” Logan’s words tapered off when he looked down at the novel again.

“Yeah,” Scott sighed more so to himself when they entered into another bout of deafening silence.

“So that novel…” Logan cleared his throat after he found himself unable to take the silence between them.

“What about it?”

“With the man…I mean you told me what happened to him, but…”

“What?”

“What of his lover?” Logan questioned watching as Scott brought one hand up over the side of his face and into his hair to twist at the thick, dark strands in a moment of nervousness, “What happens after he leaves?”

“His lover spends his days second guessing himself. He overanalyzed every aspect of their relationship wondering where he went wrong. Even though the fault isn’t his burden to carry, he takes it all in internalizing all the things that were lost along the way. In his misery he goes into complete isolation separating himself from anything and everything that once mattered because without love he starts realizing that life isn’t worth living. Without the man he loves he’s empty inside going through the motions in pretending to be something he isn’t. His life goes to hell turning him into an empty shell while his lover starts all over again in a new life completely disregarding all that they meant to one another until…” Scott bit down on his plump bottom lip caught up in a surprising burst of emotion.

“He dies,” Logan finished for him as Scott finally nodded somberly.

“He runs away from it all hoping like hell to forget all that he’d lost. His heart is broken and in his isolation, he gets eaten by wolves on the same night that his ex-lover receives a prize for a collaboration that they worked on together during the early stages of their relationship,” Scott replied with an outward groan, “It’s a miserable outcome to a miserable pair of lovers who were too stupid to just admit that they were doomed at the start. If they would’ve just been honest with one another at the beginning, then they both might’ve ended up in better places without one another.”

“You’re right,” Logan reached for the novel pulling it up from the counter and tossing it into the trash can across from where they were seated, “It sounds like shit. Why are you wasting your time reading this one? Hell, why is anyone reading it to begin with?”

“Probably because the love scenes are…” Scott paused as a blush carried over his sculpted cheekbones, “kind of hot.”

“Really?” Logan glanced over at the trash bin once again, “Like how hot?”

“Steamy in ways that I’m certain that even you could appreciate with your ideas about corrupting the good guy,” Scott admitted bashfully. He swallowed down a breath before turning to look in the direction of the light again, “Not that I’m an expert on deciding that kind of thing, but…”

“It turned you on,” Logan deduced unable to ignore the primitive feeling building in his groin at the way that Scott was visibly flustered at Logan’s words, “It made you hot and bothered to be buried in smut, didn’t it?”

“Of course not,” Scott shook his head dismissively, “I’m not saying that I found it necessarily hot. I’m only reciting what I heard others say about it before I read it myself and…”

“You weren’t turned on in the slightest bit?”

“Why should I care about the sex that fictional characters are having?” Scott challenged with a wrinkled expression on his face.

“Why were you reading the story in the first place?”

“I was bored,” Scott offered up with a sigh, “I’ve had a lot of time on my hands lately, so maybe I figured in finding it again I’d give myself something to help me sleep at night. It’s quite boring and…”

“Sensual,” Logan teased with a suggestive wiggle of his brow infuriating Scott all over again, “Admit it. You found the sex to be compelling.”

“Sex is always compelling when you know the right things to do and say,” Scott admitted freely. He licked his bottom lip and offered up a shivering exhale before glancing over at the trash bin once again, “In the right circumstances it can be pretty fantastic—beautiful even if you have the right partner.”

“Fiction never really beats reality,” Logan shrugged as he took in the scent of Scott’s discomfort in the moment between them, “Though something tells me if a romance novel gets you hot and bothered that you aren’t getting out nearly enough. You should be putting yourself out there instead of reading that trash.”

“I don’t want to be putting myself out there,” Scott snapped almost immediately. He was far too defensive, but the wounded expression on his face caused Logan to relent in questioning it any further, “Why would I bother to do that when I have everything that…?”

“That what?” Logan questioned when Scott placed his hands on the countertop positioning himself and attempting to seem cool and neutral in the moment, “Keeps you warm on a long, hard night like tonight?”

“It doesn’t matter. I was just finding a way to pass the time before you came in here,” Scott wrinkled his nose at Logan as he attempted to recover from his momentary outburst, “I didn’t give a damn about the novel or the love scenes. I was just making conversation for the time being and given your penchant for always turning a conversation towards sex I figured maybe it would hold your interest long enough to work through some kind of communication between us.”

“Why does it matter if we communicate?” Logan asked.

Scott shrugged, “I suppose it doesn’t.”

“Yet somehow it does,” Logan noted as Scott faced him once again, “Why are you here? You’re supposed to be on the field trip and…”

“The weather reports indicated that a storm coming,” Scott explained tapping his fingers on top of the countertop, “a bad one that makes all of this seem tame.”

“Okay, but that still doesn’t explain why you’re here when…”

“No one was here for the most part,” Scott cut him off abruptly, “I didn’t think it was the right time to leave everything unattended with the storm and…” 

“I could’ve covered it while everyone was gone,” Logan insisted.

“No,” Scott spoke up firmly, “you couldn’t have. It would’ve been incredibly unfair to put all of that on you while everyone else was away. You needed help.”

“And you volunteered for that position?”

“Something like that,” Scott replied readily, “I wanted to make sure everything was secure. It only seemed right that I return without the others to brave out whatever was coming and…”

“Always the boy scout,” Logan teased. Scott’s scowl soon returned offering up an opening for Logan to tease Scott further. However, Logan stopped himself when he looked to the case of beer before him, “Did you bring this for me?”

Scott nodded clearing his throat and looking away again, “I thought if we were stuck in this together through the storm I may as well bring with me a peace offering.”

“The beer is a nice start,” Logan decided noting that Scott had picked up his favorite kind of beer. It was as if Scott could read what Logan needed in returning home to provide him with company and other things he enjoyed, “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it,” Scott replied with a small smile, “Plus I know that you don’t like storms.”

“I don’t like a lot of things,” Logan conceded reaching for one of the bottles before him. He pulled it out of the package before sliding it across the kitchen island towards Scott.

“Even so,” Scott hesitated before reaching out to the bottle. He eased his fingers over the neck of it where Logan’s fingers were. Watching Logan closely, he gently brushed the pad of his thumb over the top of Logan’s hand in a gesture that was far too intimate between them after their earlier exchange. Saying nothing Logan held his position giving Scott the opportunity to brush his index finger between the dip of Logan’s thumb and index finger before he abruptly pulled the bottle out of Logan’s reach.

“What?” Logan questioned realizing whatever had passed in the moment had vanished when Scott opened his beer.

“I didn’t think it was a good idea to leave things unattended when there were plenty of chaperones on the trip. You haven’t been yourself lately, so I figured if you were supposed to be holding down the fort a little assistance would probably be good,” Scott shrugged bringing the bottle to his lips and taking a long, uneasy swig of the lukewarm beer. Following his lead, Logan reached for a bottle for himself and opened it up. He pushed it to his lips swallowing it down before slamming the bottle down on the countertop, “Damn that’s better than I remembered it being.”

“It’s better than that cheap shit you’ve been medicating yourself with lately,” Scott mouthed with an outward groan.

“The cheap shit gets the job done,” Logan noted with a laugh, “Sure it tastes like piss, but it is good enough in the moment.”

“Because piss is exactly what you want to be drinking,” Scott groaned as Logan imagined Scott rolling his eyes behind the visor at him, “You need to really rethink your standards when it comes to drinking.”

“Says the lightweight that can’t handle hard liquor,” Logan teased him further.

“I’ll have you know that I can hold my own,” Scott argued bringing his bottle to his mouth again. He held the neck between his thumb and index finger swirling it around in the air before pointing the bottom over at Logan, “As much as you like to deny it we both know I’m quite good at keeping up with you on the right night.”

“The last time you said that you ended up giving me a lap dance in the back room of the bar we were in and…” Logan stopped himself when he felt a sudden burst of neurons creating a memory that had been misplaced in his mind before that moment. It seemed that it formed in those few seconds that the words fell from his lips taking him from the kitchen to a place where Scott was grinding up on him, straddling him on a chair in the back room of a seedy dive bar that Logan had cajoled him into going to.

“Yeah, well,” Scott cleared his throat and looked away from him, “That wasn’t one of my finer moments.”

“I can’t remember complaining,” Logan noted imagining Scott over him like he was in the bar. He could almost feel the warmth of Scott’s body bumping and grinding over his, his hips shifting to the music becoming wilder and out of control in the pounding, pulsating beat that had played in the bar. He could almost taste the scent of the alcohol intermingled with Scott when their lips collided and teased falling into temptation as Logan’s fingertips imprinted the curve of Scott’s narrow hips into his mind.

“Trust me you did,” Scott brought his hand up over the side of his face, “and then some after the guy across the bar decided to pick a fight with you.”

“I’m sure he had it coming when I inevitably kicked his ass,” Logan noted watching Scott take another long drink of his beer. Eventually he set his beer down and let out a soft rumble of laughter.

“Yeah he deserved it,” Scott agreed with a faraway expression on his face.

“I don’t doubt that for a second,” Logan mused raising his beer bottle to his lips again. He finished it off before sliding the empty bottle over towards the case to discard it. Reaching for another one he pulled the top off it before focusing on Scott once again.

“Yeah.”

“Thanks,” Logan finally spoke up after he’d polished off three beers with Scott barely finishing his first one, “For the beer.”

“Yeah, like I said don’t mention it. Charles wouldn’t be happy to know that I brought this in here even if all the students are gone,” Scott shrugged bringing his bottle to his lips again.

“These will be gone by the time Chuck returns.”

“Again, I don’t doubt that.” Scott added as thunder shook the walls of the mansion. The two drank in silence drinking the beer and taking in the sounds of the storm around them until finally Logan reached for another bottle sliding it over towards Scott.

“Drink up,” Logan suggested, “because if you don’t give it a go, then I’m going to do it all myself.”

“Feel free to finish them off. I’m good.”

“How can you be good? You’ve only had a beer,” Logan pointed out with a frown, “The second one I offered you is still sitting there and…”

“It’s better if I don’t. It clouds my head,” Scott shook his head dismissively, “and right now I don’t think I should do that.”

“Live it up a little,” Logan tossed back at him, “Everyone is gone and…”

“I can’t afford to get drunk right now,” Scott refused Logan’s offer, “It’s bad enough in trying to keep focus on a night like tonight when…”

“When what?” Logan questioned as Scott’s arm stretched out across the top of the counter to place his hand on top of Logan’s.

“You know how my emotions start working their way out once I’ve had a few drinks,” Scott laughed lightly stroking the top of Logan’s palm in a faint, circular motion, “I turn into a big mess all because my inhibitions start to taper off and…”

“You start to have fun for a change,” Logan finished for him.

“I start making mistakes when I’m drunk. I don’t think.”

“Sometimes you need to shut your brain off,” Logan looked down to the way Scott was caressing his skin. The sensation was enough to put Logan on sensory overload watching when Scott’s fingertips dipped between Logan’s knuckles caressing the spots where his claws emerged in his moments of fury.

“That’s your dick talking,” Scott snorted in spite of himself, “That’s the only time you want my brain to shut down.”

“Would it be so bad if you let loose like that?” Logan questioned feeling the warmth of Scott’s touch penetrating his skin. It turned him on in ways he didn’t care to admit when Scott’s grip on his wrist intensified.

“If we ended up in bed together,” Scott paused raising Logan’s hand up off the countertop. He tilted his chin just enough to watch Logan closely before he dipped down to press a kiss over Logan’s knuckle. The hot, damp press caused Logan to groan outwardly feeling the light flick of Scott’s tongue over his skin, caressing and filling him with warmth. Slowly he deposited kisses over the top of Logan’s hand, each one more tender than the last, yet every bit as erotic as Scott’s damp tongue teased over the places where his claws tore at his flesh tearing him to pieces each time they’d emerged. Groaning outwardly, Logan shifted on the stool feeling his jeans growing tighter until Scott finally pulled back taking his teasing lips with him as he spoke up in a tight, urgent breath of a whisper, “That would be disastrous.”

“For who?” Logan questioned filled with a newfound urgency.

“Both of us,” Scott released Logan opting instead to return to his position across the counter.

“I have to disagree on that one,” Logan argued feeling his blood pumping through his veins, “This could be a good thing for both of us.”

“Sex is always good, but everything else especially now…” Scott looked away from him, “Shit. I promised myself that I wouldn’t do this. I told myself that when I came here tonight that I wouldn’t let us return to this. I said that…”

“That what?”

“That this was about doing what was right—about doing what I should be doing.”

“What is it you should be doing?” Logan gulped down as he fought to contain the lust coiling inside of his abdomen.

“Not this,” Scott relented with a heavy sigh.

“You sure about that?” Logan leaned in over the top of the counter. He caught the way that the scent of Scott’s arousal guided him on further taking him from distanced to desperate, fighting himself yet yearning for something more when his hand returned to its position on the countertop.

“The last time it rained like this we were in Canada on a mission together,” Scott divulged stroking the top of Logan’s hand. He gently caressed Logan’s rough skin allowing his touch to linger in places that Logan hadn’t realized he’d missed until Scott Summers was seated across from him gently rubbing and pressing his soft, slender fingers over his skin, “Do you remember the rain?”

Logan shook his head and sighed, “No.”

“It was worse than this, but at the same time we were together through the brunt of it,” Scott continued to recount caught up in a memory that had evaded Logan in their time together.

“Slim?” Logan questioned as there was a distant thunderous sound from beyond the walls of the kitchen.

“You were such a pain in the ass on that mission,” Scott forced a small laugh. He teased his index finger over the top of Logan’s hand sliding back and forth, circling over the spaces between his knuckles with each slow movement he made, “You ended up making things so much worse by refusing to follow a direct order. I was convinced that we wouldn’t make it out of that bar unscathed, but somehow—even after a bar fight and broken ribs we were able to avoid any real problems beyond being stuck in that storm.”

“And?” Logan questioned curling his thumb over the top of Scott’s index finger to connect with his touch. The movement caused Scott to tense up ceasing the massaging movement he made over Logan’s skin.

“You really don’t remember any of that, do you?” Scott asked with a pained expression on his face, “It is all still a blur where our history is concerned, isn’t it?”

“Chuck said that it will take time for me to piece everything together, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to open the door to whatever is missing in the blanks,” Logan half apologized when the truth behind Scott’s avoiding him seemed to come to light. Curling his finger around Scott’s, he spoke up in a low, husky tone, “I want to remember everything about us.”

“I wish you could,” Scott sighed heavily, “I wish I wasn’t the only one holding onto all of this desperately wishing you could understand why I’ve done what I have over the last few weeks.”

“I know it’s not the first time that I’ve lost my past before, but…” Logan’s words tapered off. Realizing how sad Scott seemed in the moment, he found himself wishing like hell that the past hadn’t kept its grip on him, “I would give anything to remember us and what we have happening here between us. If I’d realized it was there when you were standing outside of Chuck’s office…”

“I just never thought you’d lose us,” Scott sighed withdrawing from his hold on Logan’s hand, “I mean after everything we’ve been through together…”

“We’ve had our share of ups and downs, but don’t worry,” Logan couldn’t help, but tease, “no matter how much I forget along the way rest assured you’ll always be a pain in my ass if that helps.”

When Scott’s face dropped revealing a deeper sadness than Logan had anticipated, Logan found himself instantly regretting the words.

“Scott, I was kidding. I’m not saying that…”

“Screw you Logan,” Scott remarked sourly as he pushed away countertop.

“What?” Logan frowned, “You were thinking it, weren’t you?”

“You don’t have the first clue what I’m thinking,” Scott answered standing upright, “You don’t have any idea of what I’ve been going through since you jumped into this life forgetting everything that was here before this happened.”

“Do you think I asked for this? Do you really believe that I want to be plagued by nightmares of a life that I lived without you?”

“From what I can see you seem to be holding onto that life instead of fighting for the one we have in the here and now,” Scott’s words were more abrasive than he’d intended, “After everything we’ve been through…”

“You’d think you’d be a little more compassionate to what’s happening with me in all of this.”

“How can you say that? After everything I’ve given up for us. You have no idea just how much I’ve done to support you and be understanding in this, but it’s been six weeks Logan. It’s not like I can pretend to be okay with this when you just disappeared one day and showed up another man who couldn’t remember me…” Scott’s voice rose with anger, “This has been hell on me too. It’s my life that’s been turned upside down as well as yours, but I don’t really think you care about any of that.”

“It’s a little hard to give a damn about what’s going on around me when I don’t know what the hell was happening to me before I got here,” Logan answered cutting back with a sharp hiss, “You don’t know what I’ve been through. You don’t know the things I’ve seen—the world that I escaped to make my way here to you to begin with.”

“No, I don’t,” Scott agreed folding his arms in front of his chest, “but maybe it’s because you don’t talk to me anymore. You don’t tell me anything and…”

“Like you’ve been so forthcoming with information,” Logan snarled in response, “First you act like I’ve wounded you when I approached Jean outside of Chuck’s office, then ignore me for weeks and now you try to play nice with beer flirting with me only to remind me what a piece of shit you think I am. It’s like you keep taking the opportunity to dig the knife in deeper somehow and rub it in my face that my head is messing with me.”

“Is that what you think this is? Is that why you think I’m here tonight?” Scott’s voice rose with agitation, “To mess with you?”

“To be honest I haven’t quite figured out what your game is Slim,” Logan admitted setting the beer bottle down on the countertop, “Your actions don’t make any sense.”

“Because I was trying to be nice tonight?” Scott questioned with a wounded expression on his face, “Because I was trying to be here for you?”

“Why?” Logan asked.

“I’m starting to wonder that myself,” Scott threw his hands up in the air. He paced around the room as if he was caught up in deep contemplation before he finally lowered his arms. He slumped his shoulders and let out a long sigh, “You really don’t remember anything, do you?”

“Should I?” Logan questioned giving Scott a long, curious once over.

“No, I guess not. I mean why would you at this point in time? Like I said before this was an inevitable ending for us long before it started,” Scott decided turning his back to Logan and making his way over towards the kitchen door, “Good luck with the storm tonight Logan.”

“Scott…” Logan called out after him, but it was no use. Instead of having someone to share the night with him, Logan sat alone in the kitchen thinking about the tense exchange between the two of them and wondering how it had ended up going so bad between them.

“Damn it,” Logan cursed turning his attention to the trash can where he’d tossed the romance novel earlier in their exchange. Reaching for it, he looked at the broken binding again indicating that it had been read multiple times. The color was fading on the frayed edges indicating that the book had seen some time circulating around the estate. Beyond that though, Logan found himself focused on the ridiculous looking cover that had caused him to laugh earlier upon inspection. With Scott gone, he opened the front cover only to discover writing on the page beneath the cover. The sloppy black inscription caused him to take pause in seeing familiar writing before him. Eyeing it curiously he recognized the writing as his own. It was then that he noticed there was something deeper to the book’s meaning when he read the words aloud, “Scott. This book is for shit, but page eighty-five reminds me of Niagra Falls.”

Unable to quell the newfound curiosity pouring out from within, Logan flipped forward to page eighty-five where the story revealed a very explicit love scene in the middle of a rainstorm between the two lovers Scott had spoken of. Everything about their encounter was steamy and forbidden, racier than most novels that Logan could recall offhand. As he skimmed the page, he found himself caught up in the dialogue of the two lovers who had seemingly met under less than proper circumstances to reveal their love to one another. He perused the page for a moment taking in the erotic words until he opted instead to start the story at the beginning to see what it was about. As the story unfolded Logan learned that both men had been soldiers in an army brought together by dark circumstances grudgingly tolerating one another until finally passion had taken them from strangers to lovers caught up in a steamy, forbidden affair. With the plot their passion became more apparent pushing them past the point of no return until one of the men was injured at war. He fell into a depression and soon after he’d been sent back home away from his lover. Back home the man returned to his high school sweetheart, married her and became a best-selling author in sharing his experiences in wartime. He settled down having a family and the life that the world expected for him while the other man remained in the military living out his days fighting a war that he hadn’t wanted to be a part of. Skimming the pages Logan pushed forward to the end where the married man had come to despise his new life. In his normalcy he’d grown bitter and cold resenting the woman he’d married as he walked away from it all. At the height of his fame, he turned away from it opting to give love a second chance. This time instead of happiness the main character found his former lover ripped apart by wolves in the middle of nowhere without the knowledge that his married lover’s affection for him was still very much alive. Instead both were apart and miserable never able to live the dream they’d once hoped for with one another. The book itself was shit as promised by Logan’s brief notes at the beginning, but the sentiment lay heavy upon Logan’s chest as he set it back down on the countertop again.

“Why in the world would I give this to you?” Logan questioned thinking about the way that Scott had been holding the book upon his arrival. At the time Logan hadn’t thought much of it, but now as he turned the book face down, he peeled open the back cover and noticed another note in his own writing.

“Let’s not be as stupid as they were,” Logan read aloud as he touched the page before him, “Let’s not make the same mistakes that they did. Forget the years apart. Let’s get married now instead.”

“Married…” Logan gasped realizing that the lame romance novel in his grasp somehow served as a marriage proposal to a man who undoubtedly hated his guts in the moment. Now that time had taken that reality from him, Logan felt his heart sink at what his memory loss had meant to Scott. Flicking the cover open, he touched the page closing his eyes and finding himself surrounded by laughter and warmth in the back of his mind.

“If you don’t stay focused on what it is we have to do it isn’t going to go well for us in here,” he could hear Scott’s voice taunting him taking him from the darkness of the kitchen to a place where the sound of splashing and water roared all around them transforming the comfort of the kitchen to something entirely different. Opening his eyes Logan looked around a dark cavern finding his eyes focusing on the water that was spilling at the cavern’s opening, coming down in hard, pulsating waves dragging the heavy weight of the water with it when he felt a hand grip at his bicep.

“I mean it Logan,” Scott’s voice half pleaded as Logan looked down to see Scott spread out across the cavern floor in a tattered uniform looking unusually pale and broken down by forces that Logan couldn’t quite recall, “Come over here before you freeze to death.”

“We both know that’s never going to happen,” Logan retorted with a wide grin, “Even if I tried…”

“I don’t need my groom to be catching pneumonia all because he was too stubborn to follow a direct order from his field leader,” Scott groaned outwardly.

“Slim, we both know that I can’t get pneumonia,” Logan reminded him with a wrinkled expression on his face, “You’re the one that we need to worry about and…”

“That’s not the point,” Scott replied as he sank back onto the rock beneath him, “I’ve already finished paying off the caterers and the wedding planner so if we have to postpone this ceremony we’re going to be out of a lot of money and…”

“We can get it back,” Logan decided looking to the waterfall once again, “and if we don’t…”

“You won’t be happy about it,” Scott reminded him with a sigh, “Trust me it’s better if you just come over here and join me for a while.”

“I’m sorry it’s just being so close to the falls like this takes me back to that time when…” Logan looked over at the water again.

“I know Logan, but I can promise you that you aren’t there again,” Scott’s words were soothing, reaching out to capture Logan’s attention, “What happened back then won’t happen again not while we’re together.”

“It was just so dark in there under the water,” Logan shuddered at the memory, “It was so black and horrible and….”

“We’re in this together now,” Scott promised in a calm, even tone.

“I know we are, but…” Logan stopped. Shuddering he found himself thinking about his underwater burial before his eyes carried over Scott once again. Surveying his companion in the moment, Logan realized there was blood over Scott’s flesh in the place where his uniform had been torn, “You’re bleeding.”

“I’m fine, but you aren’t,” Scott had attempted to argue, but the more that Logan’s concern carried over him, the harder it was to focus on anything other than the blood and the way that Scott’s body trembled at the cold of being trapped in the cavern with Logan away from the others, “Come on over here so that I can comfort you.”

“You’re freezing and you’re worried about comforting me,” Logan noted as Scott attempted to sit upright on the cool slab of rock.

“I’ll be better when we stop the bleeding,” Scott’s shaky fingers attempted to peel at the zipper of his uniform, “I need to get this thing off me so that…”

“You need to rest,” Logan placed his hands firmly on Scott’s shoulder, “You need to stop moving and…”

“Logan, I need to see how much damage we’ve got going on and then I need to wrap these arms around my husband to be to let him know just how much he means to me. Now don’t make me ask you twice,” Scott had ordered prompting Logan to do as instructed in stripping Scott of the wet uniform. Once he was naked from the waist up, Logan realized that the wound, while bleeding a lot had been superficial, and thanks to Scott living up to his namesake in being a boy scout, Logan was able to use the tiny medical kit that Scott carried with him to patch him up as darkness enveloped them.

“See, it’s not so bad,” Scott sighed leaning back against the slab of rock beneath him. He gritted his teeth and arched his chin back fighting to ignore the obvious pain he was still in after the plan of attack had gone horribly wrong for them.

“It could’ve been worse,” Logan admitted watching as Scott began to shiver and shake before him. Wordlessly Logan twisted around in the cavern thinking about the weight of the wet uniform around him. It hung to his body like a second skin, suffocating and tightening against his contours making him even less eager to stay in it as Scott’s shaky fingers reached out over his arm.

“Just take it off,” Scott decided pinching his fingers into the material of Logan’s uniform, “We both know you hate it anyway.”

“I don’t hate it,” Logan paused before Scott tipped his head to look over at him, “Okay, so it’s not my favorite thing in the world, but I don’t mind it.”

“Wet leather isn’t going to help anything,” Scott decided with a frown, “We both need to get out of these and find a way to stay warm.”

“Together?” Logan questioned with a suggestive wiggle of his brow.

“We may as well find a way to pass the time until the others can rescue us and what better way than to practice for the honeymoon, right?” Scott pushed his hips up off the rock beneath him. Wordlessly he pushed the heavy material over his hips sliding down over his thighs until Logan reached out to assist him.

“Allow me,” Logan mouthed leaning forward to press a small kiss over Scott’s abdomen. Careful to avoid the spot he’d just patched up, Logan’s tongue flicked over Scott’s skin causing him to moan and twist. As if on instinct Scott’s fingers eased into Logan’s hair gently massaging his scalp as Logan bathed Scott’s skin in light, teasing flicks and teased. He pressed his lips over Scott’s smooth skin until his lips were pressing into the indent of Scott’s hip. The sound that Logan's kiss caused to rise from deep within Scott’s now parted lips were music to Logan’s ears as Scott squeezed at Logan’s shoulder encouragingly.

“If you don’t kiss me now, you’re going to lose me forever,” Scott’s words were raw and desperate as Logan found himself caught up in flashes of desire and temptation taking him from the world of madness he’d once known to something deeper more profound with the leader of the X-Men in his arms, as his lover entering into passion under the crashing waves of the water that surrounded them.

“Scott,” Logan spoke his name. He reopened his eyes realizing that he was still in the kitchen all alone with trashy novel and the remains of the beer that Scott had bought for him. Suddenly everything and nothing made sense as the two worlds he’d lived in were starting to collide severing the memories of the old world in favor of bringing him back to the new one where things had been quite different with Scott Summers. Looking to the book on the countertop he knew that there was more truth to his inscription than he’d realized as he stood up and walked out of the kitchen determined to seek Scott out. It didn’t take long for him to locate Scott spotting him over by the back of the estate looking out into the gardens with a somber expression on his face.

“I’m fully capable of keeping a watch on everything tonight. You should be in bed,” Logan spoke up alerting Scott to his presence. Tentatively he moved across the room attempting to get in closer to Scott.

“I can’t get comfortable in that room,” Scott divulged poignantly. With a sigh Scott’s fingers touched the glass pane separating him from the storm outside, “or the bed in it for that matter. It’s hard to sleep in there.”

“Why is that?”

“Because we both know it isn’t mine,” Scott sighed lowering his head in defeat, “Or maybe I’m the only one that knows that at this point.”

“Because my bed is ours?” Logan questioned already knowing the answer before Scott nodded.

“But you don’t remember that, do you?” Scott asked leaning forward to press his forehead against the glass, “All of this doesn’t fit into the reality of the world you’ve created.”

“I didn’t create it,” Logan opened his mouth to say something more, but stopped himself midsentence, “The things that I’ve been through…”

“I don’t understand them. I wish I had, but all I know is that one day I was in bed with the man I loved planning our weekend trip for our anniversary, then the next I’m staring into the eyes of a stranger who doesn’t recognize me or what we had together,” Scott sighed as the weight of his emotion carried over him, “Charles keeps telling me to be patient. He told me to give it time, but when you look at me you don’t see me. You don’t even remember me and…”

“You’re hard to forget,” Logan moved in closer to Scott despite the tension that surrounded them in the moment. Reaching out he placed his hand on Scott’s shoulder to offer up a supportive squeeze, “Even when I was trapped in another life…”

“Charles told me that you were in a world where I didn’t exist,” Scott added somberly, “He said that you were in a place where everything was horrible. He said that you were lost in that world surrounded by pain and misery. He told me that you were haunted and…”

“You were murdered,” Logan finished with a tiny shudder. Feeling out of place he started to pull his hand off of Scott’s shoulder, but much to his surprise he felt Scott reach up and curl his fingers over the top of Logan’s palm urging Logan to keep his hand on his shoulder, “You and I had something special, but we lost it because the world erupted and…”

“What about now? What about where we are here with one another?” Scott questioned as a single tear slipped past his cheek, “I’ve spent weeks trying to make sense of it—to imagine what the future would hold in store for us now that you’ve forgotten me, but here we are and…”

“My fragmented mind has left me in a position where I wish like hell I could remember everything that you do, but I don’t and…” Logan stopped himself as an ache carried over his chest, “Why didn’t you tell me that we were together?”

“Why would you want me to?” Scott finally turned around to face him, “In your other life it seemed as though we hated one another. From what little I’ve heard it sounds like we were rivals and…”

“I never hated you,” Logan moved in closer to him, “I’d always felt something for you. Even when we were at odds with one another I couldn’t let it go and…”

“You weren’t you. You didn’t ask for this. You didn’t ask to be pushed into this other man’s life where you were stuck with me and…”

“I wanted you,” Logan blurted out without a second thought. He bridged the distance between them moving forward to reach for Scott. He collected Scott in his arms as he felt the words fall from his lips without any hesitation, “I need you. I’ve always needed you.”

“Then why can’t you remember us?” Scott questioned choking up on his words, “Why is it that when you’re with me, you can’t remember what it was like to be with me?”

“I remember,” Logan touched the side of Scott’s face.

“No, you don’t,” Scott let out an ironic laugh. He leaned into Logan’s touch and sighed, “I wish like hell you did, but…”

“It isn’t lost on me that you came home for me tonight not because you wanted to make sure the school was fine. You are here because you know that I hate storms,” Logan noted, “This wasn’t for Charles. This was for me.”

“Yeah,” Scott answered quietly, “it is.”

“You know how bad my anxiety attacks can be when I’m alone in a storm. You also know how difficult it is when I don’t have you here to keep my grounded,” Logan quietly realized. He eased his fingers into Scott’s dark hair coaxing Scott to look up at him when the weight of his lover’s actions carried over him, “You’ve been listening to what I’ve been saying about almost drowning all those years ago and…”

“I hate Magneto for what he did to you. He had no right to steal your peace like he did,” Scott admitted behind gritted teeth, “Charles may have forgiven him for his sins, but when I think about the years of trauma that you suffered because of him—when I look back on the sleepless nights you’ve endured…”

“They were torture before you were a part of my life.”

“They never should have happened,” Scott replied reaching out to brush his fingers over the stubble on the side of Logan’s face. Gently brushing his fingers over Logan’s skin, he spoke up in a soft, patient tone, “No one had the right to steal that from you. Not Magneto and not Stryker. They were wrong to do what they did to you and I hate that their actions have kept you from being able to sleep when it rains like this. Knowing what you endured back then and realizing the hell that still has a hold on you now…”

“It’s agonizing,” Logan finished with a nod. He leaned into Scott’s embrace allowing the warmth of Scott’s touch to reach down deep into him. Tilting his head to the side, he pressed a kiss in the center of Scott’s palm as their connection awakened something that was lost inside of them, “but it is easier now because of you.”

“I do my best to help, but on nights like this I know it’s hard,” Scott explained moving in closer to Logan, “I knew that you couldn’t be alone right now when everything is still so up in the air and…”

“You came home because you knew that this was too much,” Logan finished for him, “You knew what I needed tonight because I told you about it when we found our way to one another.”

“You didn’t have to,” Scott answered readily, “I found out about it the first night we spent together. It was raining just like tonight and you were having these nightmares…”

“And you were always there for me?” Logan arched a curious brow. In his questioning he could see Scott’s disappointment, yet Scott refused to express it in the moment, “Of course you were because you’ve been with me through it all, haven’t you?”

Nodding Scott spoke up again, “I tried to do what I could to ease your anxiety, but it was difficult for us given the severity of the PTSD you’ve experienced. I remember that night when we were together you were shaking so hard. You were trembling in bed beside me that first night we spent together, so you left me no choice, but to pull out the big guns.”

“The big guns?”

“Beer and breakfast made by yours truly,” Scott nodded proudly, “We came down into the kitchen like we were tonight. Then I made these ridiculous omelets with lunch meat and spinach. They were dreadful and beyond any real consumption, but you didn’t mind. Instead we laughed it off and ended up making love on that island countertop.”

“Really?” Logan’s eyes widened with surprise.

Scott’s face grew flushed, “We were pawing at one another like we couldn’t get enough and maybe we couldn’t. Passion like ours is just something that…”

“It’s out of this world.”

“It runs deeper than anything I’ve ever experienced before I met you Logan,” Scott’s face grew flushed, “Everything about us ran hot and wild, intense in so many ways and that night was no exception. Our falling into one another’s arms like that was very nice until the point when one of the children woke up and thought someone broke into the mansion. Jean and Ororo came down and discovered us in the middle of our lovemaking and…”

“You’re saying that…?”

“It took a long time for us to live it down and Ororo still has conflicted thoughts about eating in there especially when we are around, but…” Scott bit down on the center of his plump, bottom lip. A moment later a teasing grin curled up over the corners of his mouth, “It was a memorable experience and I succeeded on my mission. You forgot about the storm for a while.”

“I could see why you might be just the distraction that I needed. The rain just doesn’t have the same effect on me that it used to,” Logan teased with a bit of flirting in his tone, “Perhaps we can take a page from our history in seeing that the two of us together is my preferred treatment for my particular ailment. Given that the house is practically empty now maybe we should go back into the kitchen and…”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Scott’s blush intensified at the thought, “You don’t remember anything about us and…”

“That might help me get back to it,” Logan suggested with a wiggle of his brow, “You and I naked together might inspire me to…”

“End up being even more confused than you are right now about where you are in your life,” Scott added with a sigh. He tilted his head down as his full, ripe lips curled into a pout, “I wouldn’t feel right doing that to you—not now.”

“Who said anything about feeling right?” Logan moved in closer to him, “It would feel so incredibly good and…”

“Would it?” Scott questioned tilting his head up to look at Logan directly.

“Of course, it would,” Logan nodded readily, “Given all we’ve been through together…”

“In your world it never happened,” Scott reminded him with a heavy sigh, “In the place where your mind comes from, we never crossed that line into lovers with one another. We never gave in to temptation and…”

“Yeah we did,” Logan admitted without hesitation, “We did quite frequently, but the circumstances weren’t the same when we gave in to instinct.”

“What do you mean?” Scott questioned with surprise evident in his tone.

“When Jean died things were…” Logan stopped himself when the weight of the old world took its hold upon him, “It doesn’t matter, but what does is that fate brought us together then just like it brought us together now. There has always been this invisible pull between us guiding us to one another and…”

“It’s called insanity and these past six weeks have been hell on me,” Scott confessed bringing his fingers in over Logan’s chest, “Not being able to touch you—to hold you and let you know how happy I am that you’re mine…”

“I wish that you didn’t think that you had to steer clear of me,” Logan dipped down to bring his lips in over Scott’s, “I wish you would’ve told me that…”

“Charles felt that it would be best if you found your way back to us on your own,” Scott slurred arching into Logan’s touch. His lips parted further with the tip of his tongue teasing out over his bottom lip, caught up in anticipation of their kiss.

“I’ve always been a little slow in getting to the point, but now that we’re here with one another, I can’t imagine not exploring this…chemistry between us,” Logan whispered suggestively when the roll of thunder crashed followed by lightning touching down dangerously close to the tree beyond the glass. There was a loud popping sound followed by a thud when it was clear that lightning struck one of the trees outside of the window. It caused Logan to jump, practically falling into fear itself when Scott moved forward.

“It’s okay Logan,” Scott whispered attempting to draw Logan in closer, “Focus on me.”

“I’m trying,” Logan noted with his gaze lingering between Scott and the garden beyond the glass.

“Hey,” Scott touched his face again, “I don’t know what happens next, but I just knew that you needed me tonight. I couldn’t be away from you when you were experiencing this.”

“I’m glad you’re here,” Logan spoke up in a shaky tone, “I don’t know what I would have done without you tonight.”

“I just want you to feel safe in your own home—in our home together,” Scott assured him with a warm, welcoming smile, “I know that it might take a while for you to feel at home in all of this, but…”

“As long as you’re with me, I feel as though I found my way home,” Logan answered curling his arms around Scott’s slender waist. He squeezed his arm around Scott tighter bringing Scott in against his chest. Unable to take his eyes off Scott beside him, Logan couldn’t help but find himself reaching out to gently stroke the side of Scott’s face. When Scott seemed to lean into his touch, Logan inched in closer unable to ignore the heat between them. It was intoxicating—so very tempting in ways that his mind had foolishly forgotten. As Scott’s lips parted, Logan found himself gravitating to their inviting warmth, wanting nothing more than to delve into the depth of the plump, parted flesh when another sound caused the walls of the mansion to tremble around them.

“Maybe we should go see if we can find anything on television to watch?” Scott blurted out severing the embrace. He pulled away from Logan’s hold on him placing a distance between them all over again. He cleared his throat and brought one hand up over the side of his face as if attempting to imprint Logan’s touch upon him. When it was clear just how flustered he was, Logan offered him an out.

“Television?” Logan frowned feeling Scott step out of his reach.

“Yeah, sure,” Scott nodded, “Think of it as a date.”

“A date?” Logan arched a curious brow.

“A movie date,” Scott answered readily, “With just the two of us away from duty and responsibility just being ourselves on a dark and stormy night. What do you say?”

“A movie sounds nice right about now,” Logan conceded wishing like hell that his fractured mind hadn’t worked to play hell upon his relationship with the man he’d missed like crazy in the other universe he was a part of. Instead of winding up in bed with Scott, taking in all the things he’d lost, he found himself in the center of the rec room with Scott’s fingers interlaced in his, guiding him to move to the couch in front of an oversized television that they’d often spent time watching when the children were there. Wordlessly they settled onto the couch with Scott seated on his side of the plush cushions and Logan at his end wishing like hell there weren’t any distances between them.

“So, now that we’re in control of the remote for a change what would you like to watch?” Scott questioned reaching for the remote control and turning on the television, “Are you thinking a bit of an action flick or…?”

“A romance since you seem to be so very fond of them,” Logan blurted out with an amused smirk.

“Those are your thing,” Scott wrinkled his nose at him, “I was thinking maybe a classic or a musical or…”

“No,” Logan shook his head adamantly, “It has to be a romance. One with maybe a happy ending attached to it.”

“A film with a happy ending at this hour of infomercials and erotic films alive on the paid networks?” Scott added with a small laugh, “You might be asking a lot you know.”

“An erotic film might offer up a taste of that happy ending,” Logan teased reaching out to touch Scott’s thigh in a brief, less than chaste touch, “Though if we’re honest I’d be able to provide a better one than any film.”

“I don’t have a doubt in my mind about that,” Scott inched in closer to Logan, “but at the same time this is like a first date for us in a lot of ways.”

“What? Are you saying that you don’t put out on a first date?” Logan wiggled his brow suggestively.

“When you know the answer to that, then I’ll know you’re back to being yourself,” Scott divulged with a cryptic smirk.

“How about you give me a hint?” Logan reached out to draw Scott into his lap, “Consider it therapy.”

“Well, I mean if it is therapeutic, I suppose a reminder couldn’t hurt,” Scott decided. Unable to quell the raw, sexual energy brewing inside of him, Scott repositioned himself on Logan’s lap moving in to straddle him despite his words of waiting. Curling his arms around Logan’s shoulders, Scott coaxed Logan to look up at him, to get lost in the warmth his embrace as Scott’s lips came dangerously close to kissing Logan’s.

“I hope you don’t think less of me in the morning for this, but with the beer and the storm building outside,” Scott slurred licking his lips nervously, “I have to admit that this date is going exceedingly well.”

“I’d never think anything, but the best about you in this moment,” Logan’s arms surrounded Scott’s waist, pulling Scott comfortably in over his lap. His hands were firm over Scott’s hips attempting to coax Scott into grinding in over him. Logan sat beneath him hoping to get a taste of what he’d been missing out on, but Scott remained firm, refusing to fall into their old habits with one another.

“I’d love to give you all that you need tonight,” Scott’s words were husky as desire swirled around him, bringing him from somber to sexy as he dipped down to press a kiss over the base of Logan’s throat. The sensation caused Logan’s head to arch back, reaching up to guide his mouth to Scott’s in a searing, sexy taste and tease. The parting of lips and the sweet press of tongues mingled with soft moans as Scott rocked over Logan, grinding up against him enough to spark a memory hidden from Logan’s hidden memory banks. It was enough to make Logan growl, nipping and kissing at the side of Scott’s neck before placing tiny bites upon his throat. His hands roamed wildly over Scott’s torso, sliding over his hips with fingers curling out over Scott’s rounded bottom. The small squeeze and coil of his fingers caused Scott to moan and twist rocking over Logan in a slow, tantalizing movement until finally Scott peeled himself away from Logan’s embrace.

“But tonight, unfortunately, is our first date,” Scott placed his index finger over the center of Logan’s lips to silence his protest, “and I’m a good guy who doesn’t push my limits when it comes to having what I want.”

“Lucky for you I’m a bad boy who always pushes my limits and makes sure that I take what I want no questions asked,” Logan pulled Scott in closer to him once again. He couldn’t help, but gaze at Scott’s lips wanting nothing more than to reclaim him in their moment together, “I’m everything you need tonight.”

“You’re everything I want for forever,” Scott promised touching the side of Logan’s face, “which is why I’m going to slow things down tonight. I want to take the time for us to get to know one another again.”

“We already know one another,” Logan protested unable to quell the disappointment coiling through his body, “You’re Scott Summers—the ultimate boy scout who wants nothing more than to be swept off of his feet by a rough and unruly man who knows how to show him a good time.”

“And you want to find yourself because that’s the only time you feel free,” Scott explained leaning down to press a kiss over Logan’s forehead, “I know that you want to find your way back to us as much as I want it.”

“So, then we’re taking it slow,” Logan realized with a grumble, “even though the house is all ours…”

“Trust me,” Scott promised him, “When we find our way to each other again, there won’t be anything holding us back from intimacy.”

“We could always fast forward to that happy ending we talked about,” Logan wiggled his brow suggestively. He moved in for another long, leisurely kiss hoping to entice Scott to give in to his request. As his arms wrapped around Scott, he held him tighter hoping that Scott would understand just how much Logan needed him, but much to Logan’s dismay Scott put an end to the kiss. He placed his forehead to Logan’s and let out a long, agonizing sigh.

“Or tonight we could spend time together watching television like we discussed,” Scott’s voice was stern, but the harsh breath he expelled revealed to Logan that it was just as hard for Scott to pull away from the kiss as it had been for Logan. With a little coaxing Logan was certain he could convince Scott to forget about the television, but instead he nodded. He felt Scott pull away and he found himself met by an emptiness overtaking him. Granted Scott was beside him, but the idea of not being able to touch him was overwhelming. Still he attempted to give in to Scott’s request by staying on his side of the couch as Scott flipped through the television viewing choices. He halfheartedly focused on the television before him watching one poorly filmed infomercial to the next before Scott settled in on a channel that was playing The Notebook.

“Are you serious?” Logan groaned outwardly as he felt the slide of Scott’s fingers out across the couch cushion. He pretended not to notice at first, catching the light brush of Scott’s chaste touch over his until finally Scott was squeezing his palm over Logan’s in a supportive press.

“There’s a box of tissue on the coffee table,” Scott’s voice jabbed with a hint of amusement as Logan found himself staring at the television again.

“You know this film is terrible, right?” Logan groaned outwardly, “Everything about it is exactly what we aren’t in the mood for tonight.”

“Maybe I should see if there is some kind of monster truck race on another channel,” Scott teased releasing Logan’s hand and reaching for the remote once again.

“No,” Logan objected seizing Scott’s wrist. He guided Scott’s hand back to his interlacing their fingers with one another before speaking up again, “I mean I guess this works for now. There really isn’t anything else on tonight.”

“I suppose there isn’t. I guess we’re stuck with it for now” Scott agreed settling into the couch beside him. As their fingers remained together, Scott inched in closer to Logan. A few minutes into the film, Logan noticed that Scott was restless beside him.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Scott answered.

“You sure?”

“Yeah,” Scott replied shifting his position on the sofa to look over at Logan, “Though you know I can go make some popcorn if you want. The last time we watched this, I made some with extra butter in a big bowl that we shared and…”

“Nah,” Logan shook his head firmly. He squeezed at Scott’s hand he was still holding hoping to keep the connection between them, “I think I’d rather you just stay with me.”

“I can do that,” Scott assured him with a smile. He twisted on the cushion beside Logan attempting to keep his cool when Logan felt the tension in the air between them.

Unable to forget the taste of Scott’s kiss, Logan contemplated the depth of his need wondering if he should simply ignore all that they’d discussed and give in to temptation. How easy it would be to forget about all that had transpired between them and follow his instincts. Everything inside of him told him that he wanted Scott, yet he refrained armed with fear and concern when the film continued to play on screen before him. In that moment, Logan found himself focusing less on the movie and more on the irresistible man before him. A few times he opened his mouth to say something—anything that might coax Scott into moving closer, but each time his brain came up with the best scenario, it seemed ridiculously stupid as he remained silent.

“Are you alright?” Scott questioned picking up on Logan’s restlessness.

“Yeah. Sure. I mean I’m…” Logan stopped himself as Scott’s fingers slipped out of Logan’s grip.

“What?” Scott questioned curiously. He sat up straighter with concern evident behind his features.

“Nothing. I’m just glad that we have this,” Logan divulged with a small smile, “This…this date night…it’s nice.”

“Yeah, it is,” Scott agreed behind a bright, white smile. His lips curved upward in delicious invitation as Logan reached out to touch Scott’s wrist once again.

“Hold my hand until it’s over?” Logan suggested curling his fingers over Scott’s. He brought their interlaced fingers together up to his lips. Pressing a tender kiss upon Scott’s skin, he nodded towards Scott hoping that Scott would take it as a sign for them to get closer, “Why don’t you come over here on my side of the couch? It’s a hell of a lot more comfortable over here.”

“Sure, I mean why not? Comfort is important after all,” Scott decided.

“It’s very important,” Logan heartily agreed feeling Scott scooting in closer to Logan on the couch, “although I do have one complaint.”

“What’s that?” Scott questioned squeezing Logan’s hand tighter before positioning his head on Logan’s shoulder.

“I said we should find something with a happy ending,” Logan reminded him. As Scott’s head nestled in against his shoulder, Logan closed his eyes and took in the sweet honey vanilla scent of Scott’s dark hair tickling against his chin in their embrace.

“What? You don’t want to cry tonight?” Scott questioned in a teasing tone, “I thought that you said that this was one of your favorite movies.”

“I don’t recall those words ever falling from my lips,” Logan argued with him, “It’s an awful film.”

“Yeah,” Scott agreed, “it really is.”

“Plus, I already told you, I would’ve picked the other guy,” Logan answered readily, “He was exactly my type. Cute, sweet and charming.”

“Is that right?” Scott questioned raising his head up to look over at Logan again, “Should I be jealous?”

“Honey, you’re everything he’s not and then some,” Logan promised dipping down to kiss Scott once again. Despite his initial thoughts to pull Scott into his lap, Logan kept the kiss sweet and tender, simply allowing himself a moment to lavish Scott’s lips before drawing back, “I told you that there’s something about the good guy that really gets me going.”

“It’s the idea of the chase and the inevitable corruption that follows for you,” Scott teased drawing a pattern over the center of Logan’s chest with his index finger. He shifted in Logan’s arms, sliding in closer to him as he arched up to whisper in Logan’s ear, “Though I have a bit of a secret for you Logan.”

“What’s that?” Logan questioned tipping his head to the side to take a closer look at his lover.

“Despite this persona, I’m truly a bit of a bad boy at heart,” Scott confessed in a low, suggestive drawl. His fingers dipped down over Logan’s bare abdomen, massaging at the warm, muscled flesh before a smirk teased over the corners of his mouth.

“You’re a tease,” Logan laughed lightly as Scott’s head returned to Logan’s shoulder once again. He released Scott’s hand long enough to curl his arm around Scott’s shoulders in the hope of pulling Scott in against his chest, “but for what it’s worth I look forward to exploring that side of you very soon.”

“Me too,” Scott agreed readily snuggling into Logan’s chest, “but for now, how about we shift gears a little bit on this one? How do you feel about something with Gene Kelly?”

“Hmm…now that you mention it, I think I could easily get into a film like that,” Logan decided brushing his fingertips through Scott’s hair. He looked down into his lap watching as Scott reached for Logan’s hand again interlacing their fingers. With each press of Scott’s fingers curled over his keeping them connected, Logan found himself bound and determined to hold onto the moment between them enjoying the night of romantic films together away from the rest of the world. Despite the storm outside, Logan found himself at ease next to the one man who had pulled him from darkness time and time again. Yes, there was still so much to learn, but with Scott in his lap laughing at the film and snuggling into Logan’s chest, Logan realized for the first time in a very long time he was finally home.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired by a fanfic prompt challenge that I received by mercurialmanticore on Tumblr. 
> 
> The challenge was “Hold my hand until it’s over?”
> 
> I hope everyone likes it!


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